


Bygones and Fate

by Arytra



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Multi, Several other characters make an appearance, everyone else is fine, minor OC character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27111499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: After realizing Rita's pregnant, Zedd realizes that he wants his child to have a better life than driving around in an RV.  Tommy is not handling losing his powers well at all.  Both of these things get solved when Zedd and Rita decide to pull Tommy back to help them gain back their home which causes Zedd to reminiscence about his past with Zordon while focusing on doing what's needed to protect his wife and child, while Tommy finds out more about the past than he would have wanted to know.
Relationships: Rita Repulsa/Lord Zedd
Comments: 13
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Zedd gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned an abnormal color. It was hard to see over the metal parts, but he knew they were white and that’s what mattered. He would have been closing his eyes if he had any normal eyes rather than the visor. He didn’t care if he was driving. At this point, he would have run them off a cliff if he could find one and she didn’t stop that insistent nagging. His temper completely shattered, he finally turned to his right. “It’s the moon, Rita! There is no right way! No matter which way we go, we’ll get there eventually because there’s no towns, water, anything in our way! It’s all bare!”

Rita folded her arms as she looked at her husband scathingly. When she did it toward other people, he found it endearing. When directed at him, he fought back. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Zeddy! I’m telling you we should have gone right!”

Zedd nearly threw his arms in the air from that but managed to clench the wheel even harder. He found he was gritting his teeth as he answered her. “For what? More moon rocks?”

They’d been having this argument for over an hour. Back and forth as it got louder and louder which, being that they were in an RV, wasn’t helping the noise level or their moods. They were both still just on edge from everything. The Machine Empire, good riddance to them, had destroyed their plans and an RV on the moon was one of the most degrading ways he could think of for an Emperor of Evil to travel. “No, for… Left, Zedd!”

Zedd turned to glare at her. “Don’t backseat drive!” He snapped before seeing the ditch in front of him and trying to swerve. Both of them screamed as the RV didn’t obey and crashed into the chasm. Zedd clung to the wheel, vaguely hearing Rita scream as he tried to keep it from rolling. When it did stop, he slammed both hands down on the wheel in anger before getting out of the car. He heard Rita doing the same. He glanced over at the vehicle, annoyance rising inside of him. _How dare this thing do this to me!_

A glance over at his wife showed him that she was mirroring the same anger he faced. She pulled up her dress and kicked the RV, wincing a bit but not complaining about the pain. He inwardly smiled at that. She glared harder at it. “Worthless piece of junk!”

Zedd calmed himself as he headed toward her, gently setting a hand on her arm. “We have another wheel in the back. We’ll wake up Goldar and Rito and they can pull it out.”

Rita gave a brief nod, moved away from Zedd and glared at the RV.

“FINSTER! Wake up Goldar and Rito!” She screeched.

Finster didn’t bother to come out to neither ruler’s shock. Instead, he timidly answered from inside. “Yes, my Queen.” Considering that he hadn’t bothered to come out, Zedd assumed he was already to work on doing so. As much as the little creator was more loyal to his wife than him, Zedd did appreciate the efficiency in which Finster excelled in.

Rita slumped against the RV after doing so and Zedd turned his attention toward her instead. Zedd moved over her, looking around for signs of an attack, before sitting down next to her. She didn’t say anything for a minute, just stared out into the distance. Finally she turned to her husband. “We can’t keep running, Zedd. It’s not getting us anywhere. And now Divatox is in charge.”

Zedd forced back a snicker. “I thought you two were friends.”

“We are,” Rita snorted. “So trust me when I say we don’t want to be anywhere near this.”

Zedd felt a bit of surprise at that. Usually when Rita had someone she considered an ‘old friend’ there was either pleasure or rivalry from seeing them. “She’s that bad?”

Rita shook her head. “It’s not that she’s the worst, but she manages to bring the weirdest things to her. I had her for a roommate and things just... stopped making sense.”

Zedd looked at his wife, not being able to hide the skeptic nature in his voice. “Really?”

She shrugged. “I don’t understand it either. Her sister only speaks in questions which is normal. When Divatox broke that… well… insanity, it seemed to transfer to everything else.”

He thought about this for a moment before answering. He barely remembered the two twins and certainly hadn’t cared for either of them. “Hmm. Well, we’ll stay out of her way then. Maybe she’ll finish off those Rangers for us then.”

Rita nodded absently and leaned into him gently. He moved his arm to hold her as they sat there and he looked at her. She was staring off into space again, something she’d done more and more recently. At first, he’d thought that it had to do with the Machine Empire being gone and their lack of things to do. Yet, when Divatox appeared, Rita hadn’t shown much interest. She’d answered her old roommate’s call and then promptly ignored her. Thus, as Goldar and Rito began to try to drag the RV out of the ditch, he moved her face to look at him. “Something is bothering you. Don’t lie to me about it either. I love the way you lie, but not when you do it to me.”

Rita looked ready to do just that, but the tone in Zedd’s voice stopped her. “My magic is on the fritz.”

Zedd tried not to snort. If that was all that was wrong, she would have brought it up already. “And?”

She looked uncomfortably at him and then back at the ground, pulling out of his hand. “I didn’t want to tell you before we were back in charge.”

He laughed in self-depreciation at that. “I think you’ll be waiting a long while then.”

She looked up from the ground and took a breath. “I know. Zedd, my magic isn’t working right, I’ve been feeling more tingly, and everything seems worse. I had Finster check.”

He nearly fell back away from her as he looked over to make sure that Goldar and Rito weren’t listening. “No.”

It wasn’t so much in anger as disbelief. Rita fortunately caught onto that and gently tried to pull him into the truth.

“Zedd... Surprise. I’m going to have a baby,” she said without any amusement in her voice. Zedd stared off for a minute while Rita looked worriedly at him as the fear of him leaving her rushed into her. She had begun to wring her dress a bit in fear when Zedd stood up and she managed to stop herself from taking a step back. He didn’t look in her direction. He turned toward the RV and called his staff to him as Rita just watched.

“Rito! Goldar! Hurry it up! We’re going home!”

Both of the minions looked at each other in surprise before Goldar spoke up. “My lord?”

Zedd looked at them in complete disdain.

“I said move!” He roared, causing both of them to work harder than they had before. With that, he stood up and headed toward them, making sure everything was ready to go as Rita cautiously followed him.

“What are you doing, Zedd?” She asked. As he turned to look at her, the fire seemed to be back in Zedd. Rita nearly backed up again in fear, but decided against it. Instead, she stood her ground, hoping he wasn’t going to kill her.

“What we should have done earlier. No baby of mine is being born in an RV,” he answered. She looked at him in surprise, trying to regain sense of the conversation.

“There are still remnants of the Empire there. Not to mention other things that might have moved in,” she said, still trying to keep her voice from panicking. With how he was acting, she wasn’t sure if he was going to change his mind and kill her anyway. Instead, Zedd reached over and pulled her to him.

“I know, Rita. But it’s for the best,” he assured her. She looked at him suspiciously.

“Does that mean you want it?” She asked, ready to move away if necessary. Zedd didn’t move at all.

“It’s yours and mine. We needed an heir,” he assured her.

“And if it’s an heiress?” Rita asked, wanting to eliminate every possible destructive angle. Zedd chuckled at bit.

“That’ll work too,” he assured her. He gently set her aside as he turned on Goldar and Rito. “I said hurry it up! I want to head back now!”

“I was getting used to the RV. It’s cozy,” Rito said. Zedd just turned on him and Rito backed away a bit, finally showing a bit of fear. “Whoa... Sis?”

Zedd raised himself to his full height, letting the magic swirl around him like a cloak. He somehow managed to exude the hatred and anger that he couldn’t master with a look. Rita pretended to look elsewhere, deciding against coming to Rito’s aid. Zedd kept his voice to a dark and dull roar. “I am an Emperor of Evil, Rito. I have conquered galaxies, destroyed planets, and murdered entire ecosystems. It’s time I started acting like I was before. We’re going back. We’re going to throw anything out of our castle and we’re going to wait to see what Divatox’ reign brings. Goldar! Find Scorpina.”

Goldar smirked a bit at Rito, happy to not be in trouble. “Yes, my most...”

His lord wasn’t in the mood. “Just go!”

There was a look of surprise from the golden clad warrior and the smirk disappeared and he began to lift off. “Yes, my lord,” he said as he took off, making sure the rest of the RV was on solid ground first. Zedd turned to his wife and gently helped her into the RV.

She looked at him. “What now?”

He glanced around for a minute, collecting his thoughts before he looked back at her. “Now? We move. Rito, keep your trap shut. Finster, work on some monsters. Rita, my dear, come sit down. We’ll be back to taking over Earth shortly.”

She looked at him in surprise, but nodded as she headed back inside, a little worn out from the emotional task she’d taken on. Zedd didn’t mention it. He merely turned on the others to get them back in the RV before taking off once more.

He wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off, but he would do what it took to fix this. His heir wasn’t going to be king, or queen, of an RV. Zedd would get them at least one world to rule over and he wasn’t accepting whatever Grandpa Vile chose. No, Zedd was going to take back his home, defeat earth, and pass it all down to his son or daughter. And he didn’t care who he had to kill to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn’t take Rita long to fall asleep in the front seat and Zedd was careful to keep quiet. With Goldar gone, it was quieter than normal and Finster was quiet as he hummed to himself when he worked. As all good things, however, it had to end and Rito came to the front seat.

“So, Ed, what’s really going on?” Rito asked in his normal flippant way. A glance at Rita told Zedd that the idiot wasn’t disturbing his wife so he went back to staring outwards as he answered.

“We’re taking back over our home,” he answered, hoping that would be the end of it. That said, true to form, Rito didn’t leave.

“Why now?” He asked. Zedd gripped the steering wheel.

“Rito...”

“Look, Ed. This isn’t like you. You know that, I know that. My sister knows that. That’s why Dad hates you. But this...” Rito started and Zedd glanced at the door.

He’s a skeleton. He could piece himself back together if he fell out the door and had an ‘accident’ when the RV ran over him a few times. Zedd pushed his thinking aside and answered. “This is what I was like in the first place. Any other stupid questions?”

Fortunately for the boneheaded henchman, Rito moved back and Zedd relaxed. He was interrupted again by Finster, but Zedd forced himself to push his mood aside when dealing with the creature who created monsters for his wife and him at the moment. Besides, it wasn’t Finster’s fault that Rito had gotten there first.

“My Lord Zedd. How many monsters do we require?” He asked.

Finally, a smart question. He spared Finster a look. “As many as you can make. I don’t have the magic to spare.”

Finster nodded. “Yes, my lord,” he said and started back before pausing. “I take it, my queen let you know?”

“Yes. You’re responsible for her care, Finster.”

“Yes, my lord,” Finster responded, sounding a little miffed by that. Zedd couldn’t blame him. Finster was nothing if not loyal to Rita and he always had been over the years. To be fair, the most Finster could do would be to create a potion that could ease morning sickness, but it made him feel better to leave it to Finster. 

”Good,” he answered as Finster headed back. Zedd relaxed as he drove, taking in how long he’d been driving and waiting. Finally, he arrived at a decent, if not good place to set up the next part of his plan. He pulled over and got out of the RV, taking the looking glass with him to glance at Earth.

“Finally! We’re going to attack!” Rito asked as he came up behind Zedd. The Emperor of Evil nearly smacked him with the staff, but managed to hide his surprise and keep a calm demeanor.

“No. I want to make sure that devil woman my wife calls a friend doesn’t plan on coming this way,” he answered.

“Uh... why?”

“Because I said! Now get back inside and keep an eye on your sister.”

“Ed...” Rito started, but Zedd whirled around, slamming Rito into the RV.

“I’ve been letting you get away with that for a little while now, Rito, but if you call me Ed one more time, I’ll shatter your bones and spread them through the moon so that it will take centuries to find them all,” he said in a very calm voice. Rito just nodded.

“Okay, Zedd, what if Sis asks about it?” He asked, finally taking Zedd seriously.

Zedd tossed him away and went back to looking through the Looking Glass. “Make something up.”

Rito rushed back inside and Zedd pulled the Looking Glass back up, staring off for a moment as his mind journeyed to the past.

_The sun on Eltar beamed down on the two young teens rushing through the streets of Lyanir, the largest city on the planet. Both of them laughed as they played their odd sort of tag, saving each other from being run over by various transportation before racing off like a shot. The vehicles were sparse, but mostly unneeded. The city had public transportation. Nature provided even more to the civilization. The two of them finally reached their destination, an old tree, which they scaled and grab some fruit from, putting some of it away for later while the taller of the two broke into it, juice flying everywhere. The other looked at him with a bit of reproach before picking up a different fruit._

_“You peel it like this, you know. Everytime you try to get into it, it gets everywhere,” the shorter and slightly older boy said. He had an annoyed look on his face, his light brown hair curling slightly. His companion, taller and with longer straight black hair snickered._

_“Does not. Besides, it’s fun to watch where the juice goes,” he said, moving the juice around for emphasis. The other rolled his eyes._

_“Remind me again why I put up with you?”_

_The taller boy pretended to think. “Rita is less fun?” He suggested._

_“Zedd...” The other said tiredly, shaking his head and trying to hide his amusement. If Zedd hadn’t known him so well, he would have missed it. Zedd, on the other hand, kept it up._

_“Ninjor’s a pain? He’s so serious all the time.”_

_” Zedd...”_

_“Auric is often too busy?”_

_“Zedd...”_

_Zedd snapped his fingers and gave Zordon a lewd look. “Oh! Dulcea isn’t willing to “play”?”_

_His companion looked scandalized. “Zedd!”_

_“What? You asked a question, Zordon, I’m just answering it,” Zedd informed him, trying to look innocent about it. Zordon rolled his eyes._

_“If you keep this up, we’re never going to be Rangers, you know,” he warned as Zedd took his turn to roll his eyes. Zedd never understood really why Zordon thought they wouldn’t let Zordon be a Power Ranger if they didn’t let Zedd. The only think he could think of was Zordon wouldn’t join out of loyalty and that would just be a fight between them. Zedd was just as loyal as Zordon when it came to his best friend and he wasn’t about to let Zordon make that much of a mistake._

_“Don’t be stupid. My dad is an ambassador. Your dad is a general. We’re going to be Rangers,” Zedd said calmly._

_Zordon scowled at him. “It doesn’t work that way.”_

_Zedd pretended to look worried and confused. “You sure? I think it does. Besides, I’ve been practicing. I could take down ten minions before they got a hand on me.”_

_“Can’t you try to use your words?” Zordon asked with a sigh. Zedd gave him a look._

_“When have Power Rangers ever tried to use their words first?” He said. He smirked after he asked it, seeing his friend’s sheepish face and knowing that he’d won. Zordon wasn’t ready to admit defeat, however as he argued back._

_“You’re incorrigible,” he told his friend, who stretched his arms and put his hands behind his back._

_“Maybe,” he agreed and winked. “But I’m still more fun than Ninjor.”_

_Zordon looked ready to argue, but finally just nodded. “That’s true. But even Rita is more fun than Ninjor. Speaking of which, you should be nicer to her._

_Zedd snorted at that. “You’re too goody-goody, you know that? You don’t need to drag your baby sister everywhere with you. Especially not when it’s us. I mean, you’re even more into the rules than normal with her around.”_

_Zordon sighed. “I’m teaching her how to use her magic in everyday situations,” he said. “Ever since Father brought her home…”_

_Zedd rolled his eyes again. “She’s been your responsibility. So you’ve said. Many times.”_

_“You could try listening,” Zordon suggested and Zedd waved his hand._

_“Too much work,” he answered with a winning grin. Zordon ignored him and motioned to the ground as they hopped down from the tree and headed back through town, arms filled with fruit. The people they passed smiled and nodded to them as they walked. Both teens smiled and waved back to them before Zordon leaned into his friend once again._

_“Why do you want to be a Power Ranger again then?”_

_Zedd grinned. “Well, I like the machines we use for monster fights for one.”_

_“Companions, Zedd. They’re called companions,” Zordon chided. “You know that.”_

_“Maybe, but I also like watching your face when you get annoyed,” he said with a grin. Zordon gave him a stern look._

_“We’re just lucky you weren’t the one who named them,” Zordon scolded. “I could just see that now. Zeddicons or something.”_

_“I would probably do something like that,” Zedd said with a grin. “Look at the bright side, I’m so not a Blue Ranger.”_

_“Very true,” Zordon said. Zedd snickered._

_“Besides, who would be arrogant enough to name one of these machines after them anyway? I don’t want people coming to kill me because of what I was able to create,” Zedd said. Zordon thought about that and nodded._

_“Don’t tell that to our future Blue,” he suggested. Zedd laughed._

_“Fair enough. So, where's your dad off to anyway?” He asked and Zordon looked pensive._

_“There’s a guy… Vile. Master Vile, I think. Dad’s worried about it,” he said. Zedd looked at him._

_“They’re worried about a man named Vile? What’s next? Destructor?” He asked. Zordon gave him a stern look._

_“This is serious, Zedd!” Zordon argued. “Dad is really worried! This is going to get worse before it gets better.”_

_Zedd looked at his friend’s face and stopped laughing. “Okay. Let’s go see what we can do,” he said reassuringly, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Zordon. You and me? We’ll take care of this if our dads or worse, your grandmother can't.”_

_Zordon smiled at his friend, relaxing as Zedd intended. Even if it wasn't something they could help with right now, that didn't mean that they wouldn't try. It would be a little longer until the current Rangers passed on their morphers, but Zedd was certain they were up next. It was, after all, a tradition for both families._

_“Thanks, Zedd. I can always count on you,” he said as the two took off to find out what the situation was._

Back on the moon, Zedd shook his head to wave away the memory and paid attention to what he saw. It wasn’t often that he saw the more pleasant memories of his youth and now certainly wasn’t the time for that to change. It concerned him slightly that they were coming to mind while his wife was pregnant, but the Power and the Ancient Magic did as they pleased. He'd simply ignore it as he had work to do anyway. Truth be told, he wasn’t surprised really that Divatox was losing. Power Rangers tended to win, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been hoping that they were tossed around a bit. Instead, Divatox was losing left and right as he would have expected. What he wasn’t expecting was he didn’t recognize a single Ranger. He sat back and pondered this for a moment when he heard footsteps coming up behind him.

“Well?” Rita asked as she looked at him. He didn’t look up.

“She’s losing. Badly,” he answered. Rita seemed to flourish about this. 

“I knew it!” Rita said and gave a laugh. “She had to give me that call after all!”

“That I slept through,” he snorted. “Good thing too. I might have killed her and then we wouldn’t have been able to plan more.”

“We’re not going to Earth right now, Zeddy?” She asked, looking a little confused. He shook his head.

“No,” he answered. “We’re getting our home back.”

He pulled the telescope down and headed back to the RV with Rita on his heels. “Then what?” 

She had her hands on her hips, completely impatient with him but not about to wave her wand around threatening. Just as he didn't toward her. He simply answered her. “Then we prepare. She’ll have to give up eventually or the Power Rangers will kill her. Maybe she’ll cause a nice bit of damage. When she leaves, we attack.”

“I like the way you think!” Rita said, throwing back her head into a laugh. Zedd nodded, joining in for a moment before sobering up.

“I thought you might. Once we get Scorpina back, we can begin an assault for our home,” he said coldly. Rita grinned in response.

“We will finish them!” Rita said happily. Zedd’s voice was harsh when he spoke.

“Yes. We will,” he answered. “They will learn not to cross Lord Zedd. It’s a shame it is the last lesson they will ever learn.”

Rita looked over at Zedd with some interest, but she couldn’t completely hide the worry. “We still won’t have what we need to take care of the baby, Zedd. Even if they kept the castle the way it was, it was never set up for a baby.”

“We have minions to acquire things when we’re set up,” he assured her and pulled her to him. “It will be perfect.”

With that, he walked her back into the RV and they took off once more. Rita looked pleased, but even Zedd knew how long this could take and, as much as he didn’t want to, he knew that they were going to need help. He mulled it over for a little while longer before he pulled the RV over. “Rito! Find Squatt and Baboo!”

Rita looked at him in surprise, not bothering to hide her distaste. “Why do we want those idiots around?”

Zedd kept his voice at a loving tone. “Because, my dear, they’re still useful for small things and we’re going to use that. I want them to prepare the castle for this. We’ll need more servants any to make it better than the good old days.” He finished and looked up at Rito, giving the skeleton the impression of a glare under the armor. Rito quickly piped up.

“You got it, E… er… Zedd!” He said quickly, trying to get out of there as fast as he could to Zedd’s satisfaction. With the skeleton gone, he started the RV back up again and gripped the wheel. Rita waited a minute, but when it was clear he wasn’t going to calm down, she gently set her hand on his and gave him a questioning glance.

“Zedd?” She asked, noticing he wasn’t releasing the wheel. He didn’t look at her as he spoke.

“I will take care of this, Rita. We will be victorious,” he said calmly. Rita squeezed his hand.

“I know,” she assured him and learned him to him. As she did so, she noticed that he didn’t grip the wheel quite so hard and she smiled.

***

The planning to retake the castle was long and arduous, though Rita was still not showing by the time Rito actually found Baboo and Squatt who were wandering around in circles. Even Rito had seemed a bit perplexed by this and Rita had muttered that at least they could lose them easily again. Monster after monster was created and told to head toward the castle and wait for orders. All of that said, Rita was still highly aggravated by the amount of time it took as she would converge on him and ask him how much longer. Zedd, being extremely patient toward his pregnant wife, answered with a “Soon, Rita. Soon” and tried to calm her for the next fifteen minutes afterward.

It wasn’t easy on him either. When Goldar reappeared with Scorpina, he finally relaxed a bit. Scorpina had been a trained midwife way back in the day in case anything ever happened to Rita. She smiled at them as she arrived and bowed before them. “I apologize for leaving, my lord and queen. Had I known that my queen was with child, I would have returned immediately. As it was, I was trying to find weakness in the Machine Empire and keep Dark Specter off our trail.”

Zedd held up a hand. “Lord Specter? Tell me more, Scorpina.”

“He appears to be creating an army, my lord. I don’t know much more than that,” she said, keeping her head down. Above her, Zedd and Rita exchanged looks.

“If he’s planning an attack, Zedd…” Rita started and Zedd nodded.

“I know, my dear,” he assured her, squeezing her hand before turning back to Scorpina and motioning for her to rise. “Scorpina, if it looks like we’re to be called to war, you take the baby and run. I do not want our child harmed. Do you understand?”

“It will be an honor, my lord and queen,” she assured them. Rita stepped forward and pulled Scorpina into a quick hug.

“I missed having you around, Scorpina. You’re a breath of bad air!” She said cheerfully which caused Scorpina to smile at her in response.

“Thank you, my queen. Tell me, how much longer do you have?” She asked.

“Too long if you ask me!” Rita answered as they headed off. Scorpina made sure to help her.

“Yes, my queen,” she said softly, glancing back with a reassuring nod to Zedd before leaving completely. He pulled himself up and looked to see Goldar looking over at him. 

“What is it, Goldar?” He asked, tired of the interruption already.

Goldar looked over his shoulder to make sure the others weren’t paying attention before he moved in closer. He brought his wings down toward his body to look less threatening. “You seem… different.”

Zedd turned away in annoyance, turning back toward the RV as he growled. “I’m acting like I should have been acting, Goldar.”

“Yes, my lord. But I need to know if it’s not magical,” he said, trying to mix confidence with caution. Zedd tried not to curse him with the staff as he realized Goldar wasn’t going to drop it. Instead, he turned to look at him.

“Worried about potions again?” Zedd asked casually. Goldar puffed himself up.

“I was right!” He said. Zedd gave an inward smirk.

“I know,” he said. Goldar nearly fell back from shock as he looked at his boss.

“You knew?” He asked. Zedd couldn’t blame him for the shock and slight anger. It wasn’t as thought he’d been nice about it to the monster. Then again, he’d hoped Goldar would drop it just as he had this time. He resolved to take it into consideration this time that he wouldn’t.

“Of course I knew! This time, I’m not under anything,” he answered. Goldar didn’t look convinced. He very much wanted Goldar to leave and therefore gave him a slight break. “Very well. Keep an eye out.”

“I will,” Goldar promised. Zedd stopped him before he could leave.

“I know you will,” he said with a hint of threat before going into his second commandment. “Keep an eye on my wife too, Goldar. A good one. I won’t accept anything happening to her.”

Goldar nodded his promise and headed off, leaving Zedd on his own. He had changed quite a bit and it was nagging at him. He knew why he hadn’t won before: He hadn’t wanted to. He had at first. He’d wanted to tear into them if for no other reason than to make Zordon hurt. That’s what evil did and he wanted to taste all of it. As time went on, he had felt himself differ from those feelings. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want to kill them as much and if the only way to win was to kill them, well he wasn’t going to win. It was subconscious, but his attitude had changed. He’d become less threatening as time went on.

He realized that the feelings from before were starting to form again. Not as strongly as when he’d arrived on Earth, but certainly to a lesser degree. He hadn’t heard from Zordon in ages, other villains had taken his attention and it had never been about the Rangers themselves, obnoxious little brats that they were. _We were just as obnoxious._ He nearly growled at himself for the thought. 

As it was, he looked out on Earth once more. This time, he ignored Angel Grove. He ignored the Power Rangers that protected it. Instead, he looked toward a certain Peace Conference to see Trini and Zack. He glanced toward Africa to see Aisha. He looked over at Florida to see Kimberly. He looked toward a small town where Jason stayed, trying to restart his life. He glanced over to see Adam and Rocky trying to rebuild even with Rocky’s back on the mend. He saw Kat in England dancing and Tanya trying to start her singing career. It seemed most of the little terrors were starting to move on. Then his focus turned to a racing circuit. 

He watched and knew they all struggled to move on for all that they were working through it except one. He’d seen that before. Zordon had done what he could for most of them, but even he couldn’t counter the affects completely. The lack of adrenaline, the lose of strength, the exhaustion, the lack of eating because your body no longer knows what it needed. By having more concrete ideas on how to spend one’s time, it was easier to deal with. And Zordon seemed to have been ready to give aid if they needed it. Except for four of them. Adam, Tanya, Kat, and Tommy seemed to have it worse and, unsurprisingly, Tommy was the worst. 

He’d seen the addiction in people who held the power once. Holding it as many times as Tommy would be hard enough, but there was something odd in the way Zordon had released them this time. It was as if they were floundering and just trying to keep their heads above water. Tanya was doing the best but he had never even met her and she'd held the Power such a little time comparatively. Adam had to focus on Rocky so he was able to adjust using that instead of just a job. Kat was stumbling, but she was hiding it well enough. She seemed to have written down a schedule for eating, so she should make it through the worst. 

Tommy, however, had every symptom that Zedd could conceive. He turned down food, he was sloppy, he was apathetic. He waited, watching all of them and finally heard the curse on their tongues for what caused this and he understood. His retirement had been far different and its beginning far harsher, but all forced endings had their problems as he well knew and his mind wandered in spite of himself.

_Zedd leaned against the wall, waiting. The city was on fire behind him, the flames licking against him. He tried to ignore them, but it hurt the more he tried. He pulled away and waited as low to the ground as he could get. Screams hurt his ears as he listened to them behind him and he found he wanted to cover his ears in order to stop the need to run to help. He clutched his hand around the beloved items and waited. As a Sixth Ranger and an older teen, patience wasn’t his strong suit. He saw Zordon round the corner and motioned to him. He'd distracted him until the two could escape, but he needed to tell him. Zordon looked relieved as they fled down the street as Zedd noticed the screaming lessened, but still stung. Zordon looked at him. “Are you alright?”_

_“Just… the screaming,” he answered with a forced smile. Zordon’s worried look deepened._

_“Zedd, there hasn’t been scream in the last twenty minutes. We got everyone we could out and anyone who didn't make it isn't screaming now,” Zordon said, distracted by Zedd to really think too hard about it. Zordon put an arm around Zedd who forced a smile and changed the subject even though Zordon before he lost his nerve. If the screaming would stop, it would be easier even if Zordon insisted it didn't exist._

_“Still have your coin?” Zedd asked and Zordon nodded, showing it to him. Zordon looked at him._

_“Did you lose yours?” He asked and Zedd shook his head, opening his hand to reveal four bloody coins._

_“I gained some,” he said, trying not to laugh with delirium. He wasn’t crazy, after all. “See? I can hear them, Zordon.”_

_Zordon reached over and pulled Zedd into a full blown hug. “They’re still screaming, Zedd! Let them go. Focus on me.”_

_“They weren't screaming before either,” Zedd said inbetween laughs, tears falling down his cheeks. “They're screaming now.”_

_Zordon pushed as much love into the tone as he could, not letting Zedd go. Zedd, for his part, didn’t fight him. After a minute, he looked up, Zordon’s voice rising above the others which were quieted a bit. Zordon's expression changed. “We lost the companions, we lost the others, we can’t win this.”_

_“But…!” Zedd said and Zordon shook his head._

_“We’ll come back and save it later,” he promised. He looked pensive for a minute before his eyes lit up with an idea. “But for now, we need to make our way to Minitairius.”_

_“The World of Monsters?” Zedd demanded. Zordon nodded. “Are you insane?”_

_“Our team is dead. Our families are… we need to get out of here and regroup,” he answered. Zedd looked at him._

_“With monsters?” He demanded again. Zordon looked at the ground and then back up at his friend._

_“We’re out of time,” he answered. There was silence for a minute before Zedd spoke up._

_“What about Rita?” He asked before pausing to think. “How do you even think we’re getting off this planet?”_

_“My father hid a ship,” he answered. He paused and looked at his coin. “We… can’t do anything for Rita here. Not anymore. Ninjor is probably dead. Our fathers are dead.”_

_“What about those twins?” Zedd asked. “You know, the two that were trying to become diplomats or something?”_

_“Ambassadors,” Zordon corrected. “From Inquiris. No one has heard from Diva or Dimitria in three days.”_

_There was silence again before Zedd spoke up. “We should fight.”_

_Zordon grabbed him by the shoulders and looked at his friend sternly. “With what? I promise, Zedd, we’ll beat them. We just need to retreat for now.”_

_There was a moment where Zordon worried his friend would turn on him, but Zedd just finally nodded, letting Zordon lead him toward the ship. They rushed from barrier to barrier, but it didn’t matter. As soon as they reached the space hanger, there was an abundance of creatures staring them down. Zordon looked at Zedd. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”_

_“Gladly,” Zedd said. “Dragon!”_

_“Tyrannosaurus,” Zordon agreed as they both felt the Power run over them. Zedd rushed in, closely followed by Zordon as they moved. Both of them rushed the bay, swiping and kicking things out of their way. Slowly, but surely, they made their way to the ship. Zordon rushed inside to get it started while Zedd waited outside in order to make certain none of them hindered their escape. He slashed and threw them off the ship, trying to make sure that the engines would work. When the engines fired up, Zedd took that as his cue to get onboard. He rushed through the entrance and rushed to the cockpit._

_“Move it!” He said, taking the copilot’s seat. Zordon nodded and the two headed off into the sky, leaving Eltar and its broken cities behind. Zedd leaned against the seat and reached into his pocket, pulling out the other coins. Zordon looked over._

_“We will avenge them, Zedd. I know how you feel,” he assured him. Zedd shot him an extremely dirty look._

_“Really?” Zedd asked. “I don’t remember you holding Darstin as he died or promising Unara that she’d be okay even though you saw how much blood was rushing out of her.”_

_Zordon looked horrified. “No, but…” he started. Zedd put a hand on his shoulder._

_“You were doing what you had to do. We could have lost half the civilians if you hadn’t rushed over, but we lost everyone else. Worse? I just want to crush the people who did it,” Zedd said, looking a little sickened by the idea. Zordon took his friend’s hand into his._

_“You have my word that they will be remembered and we will bring their murderers to justice,” he said._

_Zedd gave him a sad smile. “I know. But it won’t be soon enough.”_

_“We have to do this first,” Zordon said gently. “Or we won’t win at all.”_

_Zedd nodded and Zordon relaxed a bit. “But Zordon? When we find those who killed them. Don’t stand in my way.”_

_“I don’t intend to,” Zordon assured him, hoping that it was just stress that made his friend talk because he knew the horrors it could lead to if Zedd was fully serious and escalated a battle. He gripped the control stick and headed into space as Zedd just sat quietly._

He wasn’t sure how long he was out until Rita touched his shoulder. He didn’t jump, but he did look up at her. Rita looked a little worried. “Zedd? What are you doing?”

“They’re not Power Rangers anymore, Rita,” he said, deciding against telling her about the unwanted memories. He didn't want her to worry. “None of the Rangers we knew are Power Rangers.”

“Really?” Rita asked, looking a little interested. Zedd nodded.

“We knew about Rocky’s back. We were paying that much attention, but his companions looked to have been… retired.”

“Retired?” She asked, looking a little surprised. “Without it having been their choice? That’s interesting. Did Zordon decide he didn’t care about his pet Rangers after all?”

“It doesn’t sounds like he’s around anymore,” Zedd told her. “I didn’t quite get the facts, but I did catch the name of their newest mentor.”

“Who?” Rita asked, completely enthralled by this point.

“Dimitria,” he answered. Rita looked amused.

“Apparently Zordon was running out of choices,” she sneered. “With Dulcea unable to leave her planet and the others busy, I suppose he had to leave someone.”

“That tells me he was desperate,” Zedd said. Zordon had spent years waiting and learning about humans. Dulcea could connect to Power Rangers on several different levels. From what he remembered about her, Dimitria wasn’t going to be able to do either. Unfortunately, she’d also never been a Power Ranger which meant that she didn’t understand certain things about how the Power worked either. It wasn’t her fault, exactly, but she was hurting them more than she thought. “Especially considering how hard our former Green Ranger is taking it.”

“Furious?” She asked. Zedd gave a slight chuckle.

“It doesn’t quite just come to that,” he told her. “Anger is too deep an emotion. Just apathy and pain. This will affect him more than the others.”

“Why?” Rita asked. “They have the same mentor now. They all no longer have it.”

“Adam will be feeling it,” Zedd agreed, trying to be patient. He’d given her the green coin years ago since her magic could affect it and he no longer could use it, but she had never been through the withdrawl. “Kat is and found solutions. I know little about the Yellow one, Tanya. As for Tommy, those White Ranger powers were tailored for him. That crystal was tailored for him. I can only imagine the pain he much be going through. And I think, it will be enough to help us.”

“Help us? Tommy?” Rita asked. Zedd nodded.

“I was watching him. He’s not talking to the others. He’s not adapting. He’s acting irrational and he’s always sort of been… family,” Zedd said, choosing the word he felt worked. After all, his wife had created the young man as he was. Rita’s expression shifted from surprise to wistful.

“Yes,” she answered. “He is.”

“Good. Can you make the trip to Earth?” He asked, looking at her stomach. She pulled herself up.

“Of course I can!” She said, insulted by the question.

“Then we’ll retrieve him in the morning,” Zedd said, heading back inside as Rita followed. It wouldn’t be easy and it would take some convincing, but he was nearly certain he could convince the young man to stay with them. It just might take a little bit, but he’d learned how to corrupt over the years and having an angry, power addicted former Power Ranger on their side would certain serve their child well and help him get back their former glory. He inwardly smiled as he headed back in. Tomorrow would certainly be an interesting day.


	3. Chapter 3

Tommy moved out the window of the racing car and nearly stomping to the ground before throwing his helmet to the ground. He stalked off in a different direction past several people who called out for him. He ignored them and continued on. Behind him, his uncle merely picked up his helmet and sighed, shaking his head.

The former Ranger marched toward his own car and shut the door behind him, setting his head on the steering wheel and wondering why this wasn't working. He'd tried to ignore the voice in his head that told him it wasn’t the same. He knew that. He’d been dealing with that for months now. When he first decided to go into racing, it was because he’d needed something to focus on. His uncle had given him that, but it was a weak substitute for the Turbo Powers that he no longer had. He'd considered pulling out the Zeo morpher more than once and using it, but stopped himself each time before he'd finally locked it in a drawer. If he hadn't, he would have morphed for no reason and if he even saw Zordon again, he didn't want to explain it to his mentor.

He clutched the steering wheel a bit as he felt the addiction overwhelm him slightly before he managed to pull himself enough together to get home. It would be the same as it was every night for him: Get home, ignore everyone he’d ever known’s phone calls, and try to just deal with things how they were now. That usually meant putting a movie on and just trying to sleep. He might grab something to eat. He wasn’t sure what he still had that was quick to make. If it wasn’t easy, he wasn’t in the mood today to go through the effort of eating.

He parked the car and took a breath before heading back into his apartment, making certain to avoid any neighbor that might want to talk. He was successful in avoiding them, but it was when he reached the stairs to his apartment that he saw them. Queen Rita was fidgeting with her staff as she sat on a stair looking bored while Zedd stood over her, looking out until he saw Tommy and stared at him instead. Neither moved, but Tommy started to shift into a fighting pose nonetheless. Zedd put his hand up.   
“We’re not here to fight you.”

Tommy gave him a look of disbelief. “Then why are you here?”

“We need to talk,” Zedd said, pulling Rita up and out of Tommy’s way so that he could reach his apartment more easily. He edged by the couple, not turning his back to them and headed up the stairs. He managed to keep an eye on them out of the corner of his eye as he unlocked the door before he turned to them. He quickly realized that leaving two archvillains at the front door with his neighbors coming and going probably wasn’t the best plan in the world and motioned for them to follow him in. Both did and, while it was impossible to read Zedd's face, Rita wasn't bothering to hide her own opinion. She made a face as she looked around, clearly unhappy with what she saw, but to her credit didn't seem to say anything. Tommy wondered if they'd practiced 'try not to anger the former Ranger in five seconds' strategies before he got there. Zedd had kept his attention to Tommy, though whether because he felt Tommy was a threat or because he was just the focus of attention, he didn't know. Fortunately, Zedd did speak up right after the door to the apartment was shut. “Rita is pregnant.”

“What?” Tommy asked. Of all the things to open with, he hadn't expected that. “Uh... congratulations?”

Rita gave a quick nod and Zedd didn't respond. Tommy needed a 'Hero to Villain' dictionary to see how he was supposed to properly congratulate people who had tried to kill him on a regular basis on their upcoming baby and whether or not the opposite applied. It would be the worst conversation he'd ever had if he had to convince the other Rangers that it was tradition or whatever to announce pregnancies to their enemies. Zedd, seemingly not taking his hesitation into consideration, continued. 

“The Machine Empire took our home, we have not fought you in over a year, and we helped you against the Machine Empire. Right this second, we do not want more trouble from you. What I want is our palace back. With Rita pregnant, she needs more care. You can understand that, can’t you?”  
Tommy wasn’t particularly sure it wasn’t magic that caused him to answer “Yes” but he didn’t fight it either. Right now, he was just trying to process what was going on. Zedd looked pleased about his answer and continued.  
“Good. Now, there’s a few more members of the Machine Empire left in our home plus whatever else might be there. We haven’t exactly been able to check,” he said calmly and Tommy folded his arms, trying to speed this along.

“What do you want from me?” Tommy asked with a slight look. Zedd looked directly at him.

“Your help,” he said and Tommy scoffed. 

“I think you’ve lost it, Zedd,” he said, heading out of the room and into the kitchen to get himself a soda and wishing, not for the first time, that they all hadn’t been such good kids as to not drink when they were younger. It had carried over and it felt wrong to him to break that now when he really, really wanted something stronger. He took a few breaths as alcohol wasn't the only thing he wanted right now. His hands shook slightly, the events of the day and this evening kicking in at once and it wasn't just the apathy he was feeling. This sort of muscle weakness only really happened when he was nearly beyond his limit for stress. He took a few breaths, but it was a very small apartment and he wouldn't be able to hide it from his guests.

“It calls to you, doesn’t it?” Zedd asked. Tommy paused, his mind racing as he clutched the can from keeping from dropping it. He had to have thought Tommy was just sick. Zedd couldn’t possibly know how often it happened. “The Power.” 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Tommy pushed, trying to sound stronger than he felt. The panic he felt from Zedd knowing wasn't helping, though when he glanced at Rita at least she seemed lost as well. To his surprise, Zedd’s tone softened. 

“I know it does. I felt that call for years.”

Tommy just looked at him. “You?” He asked.

“Surprised?” Zedd asked.

“I am,” Rita said with a little annoyance. He gently took her hand and pulled her toward him. “I knew it. But it still shocks me every time I think about it.”

“It was a long time ago and a lot has happened since then. What’s important is that I was once a Power Ranger myself,” he said with a certain amount of joviality. Tommy looked horrified.

“You can’t!” He exclaimed. “You’re evil!”

Zedd gave the younger man a piercing look. “How many original coins did Zordon have?”

Tommy shook his head. “No…”

“Which color did Rita have?” Zedd pressed. Tommy opened his mouth to argue, but Zedd cut him off. “Stop denying it. Here’s the truth: You’re about to end up just like me. And I don’t want the competition.”

“I don’t…” Tommy started, but Zedd cut him off.

“You came into the Ranger world with evil, Tommy. You’ve been fighting being one of us for years. You know that,” Zedd said, twirling his staff. “I’m telling you that you’re very close to becoming it.”

“What does this have to do with helping you?” Tommy demanded, trying not to focus on what he was saying.

“If you help me, I’ll give a semblance of power back. Temporarily, of course. You can’t be a Ranger right now or She’ll see you,” he said pausing as Tommy’s fist clenched in anger. “Exactly. You keep that anger toward her and something else that’s big and nasty will pull you to their side.”

“And helping you is better?” Tommy asked.

“I’m asking you to help me do what you love to do. To get rid of the problems of my castle that would destroy Earth given half a chance,” he said. “And I’m willing to ease off the Power and give you a chance to adjust.”

“That’s possible?” Tommy asked and Zedd nodded.

“Zordon did a lesser version for the others that left. He made certain they would have other things to focus on, that they needed to do,” he answered. “Oh, it will still ache, but it will be more manageable.”

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” Tommy asked and Zedd looked a little bored.

“You’re not a Power Ranger anymore. Giving you some of my power is a burden on me rather than an asset. It’s just in this case that it’s useful,” Zedd said and Tommy turned away for a moment to think. He knew it was making a deal with the devil, but he couldn’t handle it anymore. He knew the others would try to understand, but he just couldn’t deal with them right now. Not to mention, there was the small fact that Rita was pregnant and they could have been lying about it, but he couldn’t take that chance.

“I still can’t trust you,” he told Zedd who nodded once. “But Rita is pregnant and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to the baby because I didn’t help. Fine, but give me your word that you won’t use this to enslave me or control me.”

“You have my word,” Zedd assured him and Tommy knew that was the best he could ask for. It wasn’t in Rita or Zedd’s best interest to go after Earth right this second and at least this was going to give Tommy some sort of feeling of accomplishment. If he had been in a better mind space, he would have refused immediately, but he wasn’t and he no longer had anyone watching over him. After a minute, he nodded.

“When?” He asked and Zedd waved his hand.

“Did you really have anything more pressing here?” He asked and Tommy looked at the ground.

“No,” he admitted and Zedd headed over to him to make sure he’d beam back with Rita and him.

“I thought not.”


End file.
